Be Brave
by mzcain
Summary: Based off this tumblr post: look me in the eyes and tell me that if the character you hold near and dear to your heart knocked on your window in the middle of the night and said "drop everything and come with me" you wouldn't do it you know you fucking would - jaclcfrost
1. Chapter 1

The knocking sounded like Loki at first. Positive that he was chewing another shoe I rolled over to go back to sleep. As I turned to face the window it got louder and more urgent but as I concentrated more and started to wake up I realised that it wasn't loud enough for anyone else in the house to hear. Slightly worried, I pulled the curtain to the right and one of my biggest fears became reality when I saw a face outside. The teenage girl outside my window was pale, had dark eyes and long dark hair and looked to be wearing all black. Fear turned to shock as I realised who she was and the darkness beside her shifted and became a skeleton in a suit.

"No way…" I breathed.

Valkyrie Cain gestured to the window and I quickly undid it. As soon as it was open enough she shoved clothes through into my lap.

"Get changed. We need to leave. Now."

"But wh-" I started.

"Please do as she says," said Skulduggery. "She's not in the best mood and she's also right. We need to go basically now."

As Valkyrie glared at him I let the curtain fall back and turned the torch on my phone on. The clothes were Valkyrie's from Dark Days and the end of The Faceless Ones, black trousers, a black tunic, black boots and a black coat that came to mid thigh with a red so dark on the sleeves it looked like blood. Without thinking I changed into the clothes, silently thankful that they fit. As I reopened the curtain, Loki jumped up onto my bed.

"What about my dog?" I asked. "And I can't just leave, my family will flip out. I don't leave the house during the day let alone three in the morning."

"She has a point." said Valkyrie. "Can we do a reflection?"

"We don't really have time," said Skulduggery. "And I'm almost positive that the only full length mirror she has is in her parent's room."

"How do you- never mind," Valkyrie looked at me. "You need to come up with something."

"Uh, I dunno," I stammered. "I could tie Loki up outside and we could do a reflection later. I'll bring clothes, and we can send it home early with instructions and stuff."

"Thank God, she can think on her feet," she said. "Go, I'll grab some clothes, we'll meet you at the end of the driveway."

I grabbed Loki, pausing at the door to check my parents were still asleep. When I was sure I took him outside and tied him up.

"I'll be back," I whispered. "I hope."

I went back the way I came, using all the same doors in case someone could hear me. I re-entered my room, shut the door and as quietly as possible, climbed out the window. When the window was completely closed I pulled off Valkyrie's boots and crept past my sister's window and then my parent's. With the boots in hand I sprinted to the end of the driveway where Skulduggery's gleaming black Bentley was parked.

I got in and Skulduggery pulled out slowly, keeping the car quiet. He waited until we were a good two kilometres away before he gunned the engine. I pulled the boots back on and to my left were the clothes Valkyrie must have grabbed.

"Now that I've just snuck out for the first time do either of you want to explain, well, everything?" I asked.

Valkyrie turned in the passenger seat and her eyes widened. "Oh my God. That's actually kind of creepy. You'd think I'd be used to it but- Skulduggery look at her."

"In case you haven't noticed I'm driving a car at what would be considered an alarming speed," he replied. "Unless you want to be wrapped around a tree then I don't think that would be wise. She looks like you though doesn't she?"

"Well yeah, I mean like I said you'd think I'd be used to it but I know where my reflection is. And she's not identical it's just…really, really similar."

"Anyway," I cut in. "What is going on? How are you…here?"

"Well we've always existed really if that's what you mean." said Skulduggery.

"Yeah in books though, I mean how are you non fiction for want of a better word."

"We're not really sure." said Valkyrie. "Skulduggery found out about the books and decided not to do anything. He figured that the best way to keep everything quiet was if everyone thought that it was just a book."

"What about everything in the books?" I asked. "Did that still happen to you?"

"It did," she said. "Word for word, punch for punch, we just don't know why or how. We haven't even met Derek."

I sank down in my seat and rested my forehead on the heels of my palms. "This is too weird. What about me, why am I here?"

"You're probably not going to like this," answered Skuduggery, "But one of your close friends is currently missing. We also have reason to believe that wherever she is, she is not at all safe."

My head snapped up to stare at the back of his seat. "Who?"

Valkyrie looked at me sympathetically. "Before we tell you, you need to know that we have leads. I promise you we are not bringing you into this blind and we will try to tell you everything we know. I need you not to Hulk out."

"You need to tell me. Now." I could feel myself starting to tremble and I habitually balled my hands into fists.

"It's Amelia."

I wasn't sure what to think, I had nothing to say but I didn't think twice about believing her. The living skeleton and his partner from my favourite book series had just picked me up in his Bentley, I wasn't about to question their honesty now.

"Where?" I didn't trust my voice to stay even. "Just her?"

"As far as we know," replied Skulduggery. "As for her whereabouts we're still in the dark. That's why we need you. But first you need a reflection."

I hadn't noticed the car stop but we were sitting on the side of the road. Skulduggery got out of the car and walked to the dirt beside it and knelt to dig a small hole.

"I'll let you get changed." said Valkyrie and she went to join Skulduggery.

Mechanically I changed from Valkyrie's clothes into my own. Black jeans, a red Paramore shirt and a hoodie. I left the shoes in the car and went to the new puddle courtesy of Skulduggery.

As I got closer Skulduggery cocked his head. "No shoes?"

I shook my head. "Like I said, I don't leave the house," I replied. "Once we send it home it probably won't need them."

"You know you better than we do," he said. "All you have to do now is touch it. Then you can give the instructions."

"Just like Playing With Fire." I murmured. I touched the surface of the puddle with my toe and watched my own hand emerge from the surface. As we helped pull out the reflection I forgot everything and just stood in amazement.

"You're right," I told Valkyrie, "This is weird."

"You should see you in those clothes." she replied.

"Tell it what to do," said Skulduggery. "We still have a fair way to go and we don't know how much time we have."

"Yeah…right, no, ok." I looked at the reflection. "You need to get home as fast as you can. Do not injure that body, I don't care if you can't feel pain. My parents especially can not know that you're not me. If I'm not back tonight sometime fall asleep on the couch when it starts getting late and then go to bed in the clothes you're wearing and then wear them again the next day." I turned to Skulduggery. "You don't know when I'll be back do you?"

"No. I can't promise anything."

"Then we'll have to work that out when we have to."

"Basically. Anything else?"

I turned back to the reflection. "Please look after Loki. Anything happens to him and I will have no problem hurting you. Just be a good me. I think that's it."

"Alright then," said Skulduggery. "What time will people start getting up in your house?"

"It depends. It should probably be there well before seven though."

He looked at my reflection. "You have just over three hours to make a 6 kilometre trip. You must not be seen. You do not feel pain so you should be able to move fairly quickly. Get moving."

The reflection simply nodded, turned around and jogged to the closest bend in the road. It paused to look around and then disappeared in the direction of the home I'd left.

"We need to leave too," said Skulduggery. "We need to talk to some people, maybe hit some people but I'd like this over fairly quickly all the same for everybody's sake."

He walked to the car and Valkyrie turned to face me. "I grabbed your phone when I got the clothes," she said. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember or if you even wanted it but…" She handed it over and I pocketed it.

"Thanks. Maybe I'll need to pretend I'm still being normal for people other than my family. This'll help, Facebook and stuff."

"True. Listen I know how weird this must be and I'm sorry. And Amelia will be fine. I promise."

"I know. I've read the books we'll find her."

Valkyrie laughed. "Who knows maybe you'll be in the next one."

She went back to the car and as I followed I pulled out my phone. I hit the home button and the time flashed up: 3:17. It had taken all of 17 minutes for me to drop everything and leave.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in the car, I changed back into Valkyrie's clothes and fell asleep once I stopped recognising where we were. When I woke up again the sun had started to come up and Skulduggery was filling up the Bentley. As I sat up and rubbed the rest of the sleep from my eyes Valkyrie walked out of the petrol station got in the car.

"Hey you're awake. Here." She threw me a Mars Bar and an iced coffee. "Breakfast of champions."

Halfway through breakfast Skulduggery got back in the car. He started the engine and as we left he adjusted the rearview mirror and tilted his head to look at me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm okay," I replied.

"Good. We're close to our first informer if you will, but first I need to know how well you can handle yourself. You're going to fight Valkyrie."

Valkyrie looked at him with her mouth full of chocolate. "She what?"

I nearly spat out the mouthful of iced coffee I'd just drank. "I what?"

"I did speak clearly didn't I?" said Skulduggery.

"I heard you but you can't be serious." I replied.

"I thought you of all people would recognise my serious face when you saw it. Look here's a spot where no one will see you two beating each other up."

He pulled into a rest area that looped around behind a group of trees. It was still early but even if someone drove past they wouldn't see anything and if someone happened to pull in Skulduggery would have enough time to activate his facade.

"Come on then." said Skulduggery happily, getting out of the car. Valkyrie and I looked at each other and followed.

"Skulduggery, I dunno about this." said Valkyrie.

"It'll be perfectly safe for both of you. No magic from you, you both have protective clothing on, you won't be fighting for your lives and Sarah is a black belt in karate."

"You really should tell me how you know all this stuff about me." I said.

"I'm a detective," he replied. "I know things. Now, punch my partner."

I turned to Valkyrie and looked at her helplessly. She just shrugged and looked at Skulduggery who gestured towards me. Then she sighed and slid her right foot behind her. I did the same, sinking into my low shotokan fighting stance with my hands in a long guard.

I knew I had the advantage of knowing how she fought while she had no idea about me. She was a good deal taller than me and had longer reach. I knew she was fast and she hit hard. I needed to get in close, hit her and get out quickly. This wasn't the point sparring I was used to either. She would use locks, throws and her teeth if she had to. I was going to have to break some habits fast.

Valkyrie edged closer testing her distance. She had the luxury of time, facing an opponent who wasn't trying to kill her. As she slid forward again I stepped back, now mirroring her feet. The third time she moved, she followed through with a front hand jab but I hooked my foot around the back of hers, pulling her off balance. I punched with my left hand and pulled it so it only brought a few of the unavoidable tears when I hit her nose. I moved away before she could recover.

After some blinking and a small shake of her head Valkyrie sank lower in her stance and the look on her face meant business. I knew my next hit wouldn't be half as easy to get.

She came in straight away, but I saw the two jabs and blocked and then ducked under the kick she aimed at my head. Without missing a beat she swept a leg behind me and threw me over her hip. I hit the ground hard but the clothes must have absorbed part of the fall.

Rather than let her put me in an arm bar, I quickly twisted and got my legs between her and I, and using her arm I pulled her down and shot a kick at her knee. She hissed in pain but I hadn't hit her hard enough for her to let go. I swung my leg lower, at her ankle,and she stumbled back and had to let go. She let her momentum carry her into a backwards roll and stood back up to face me. I stood slowly but she didn't make any move towards me until I was upright.

When she led with her left hand I anticipated, moving low to avoid her punch while responding with my own hitting her nose again. I moved closer in an attempt to throw her but she moved back as my foot swept through. I let it keep going and snapped it back up hitting her temple with the bottom of my boot. While she was still reeling I hit her in the solar plexus and when she bent forward I twisted my hips to lend force to the uppercut I sent to her chin.

I tried for another throw but her arm snaked around my throat and she had me in a chokehold. I tucked my chin so the choke wasn't as effective and stomped on her foot, then centred and aimed an elbow at her sternum. When she realised her hold wasn't working she pushed off and threw another kick, this one catching me in the back of the head.

I spun to face her but she had already moved and I felt her punch to my ribs and another one to my jaw. She came back in front of me and I blocked her next three punches, swaying out of range of the fourth. She threw a low kick but I saw the feint and ducked when she snapped it up high. I threw a punch that she blocked and countered which I then blocked and countered. I didn't have to wait long for her next attack which I anticipated, beating her to the punch and hitting her on the mouth.

We both sank back, breathing heavily, waiting for the other to attack but Skulduggery called a stop.

"Impressive," he said. "You're fast. That's good. And you're about to teach Valkyrie something." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Learning?" Valkyrie panted. "Ew."

"Why do you think Sarah blocked most of your attacks? Or was able to counter them?" Skulduggery asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "She's fast, like you said. She's had training, I'm not fighting Scapegrace."

"True, but that's not why. Sarah what's one of the fighting styles you learn?"

"You mean like countering and stuff?" He nodded. "Well there's heaps. We learn about all of them and then we fight using the parts we like from each. I anticipated a bit. I'm a counter fighter though."

"What do you look for when you anticipate?" he asked.

"Our reaction speed has to be really fast." I replied. "We need to be able to see them move to attack and beat them to the punch anyway."

"Anything else?"

"We look for telegraphing. And we avoid doing it ourselves."

"Bingo." he said. "Valkyrie was telegraphing."

"Tele-what?" asked Valkyrie.

"Giving away that you're going to attack basically." said Skulduggery. "I've never noticed until now really, but I couldn't figure out why Sarah would always manage to block or hit you first when you would attack first. The when I watched you closer I saw it. It's a dangerous habit really. If a vampire picked it up- don't glare at me I'm teaching- then they could very well rip you apart."

"So how am I telegraphing?" she asked.

Skulduggery looked at me and I turned to Valkyrie. I honestly couldn't remember what she'd done so I said "Go to hit me."

We sank back into our fighting stances and as she threw a lightning fast punch, I swayed to the side, making her miss. "Again." I told her.

She punched with her other hand this time and I saw it. I blocked it and stood normally. "It's your back hand." I told her. "Every time you're about to attack it moves down slightly first. Especially with punches. Like this."

I mimicked what she'd been doing, exaggerating a bit so she could see, dropping my hand a centimetre or two before I punched.

"That was it?" she asked. "That's so annoying."

"Now try hitting her again," said Skulduggery. " Without telegraphing."

Valkyrie concentrated for a second, and then from nowhere threw a punch at my face, pulling it so she didn't break my nose.

"Good." said Skulduggery. "Now back in the car. We have people to interrogate."

He walked off without waiting for a response. Valkyrie shook her head. "He has the attention span of my father sometimes," she said. "Good job by the way. That was fun. We'll probably be bruised all over tomorrow but anyway."

"I've actually never fought like that," I replied. "I don't know where it came from."

We started back towards the car. "Instinct." she said. "You're a fighter, there's a part of you that will help you fight for your life if you have to."

"I just hope it works when I really need it."

"It will. Don't worry."


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later we pulled up at a small house, the only one for miles. There was no car in the driveway but the front window was open and I thought I saw a TV on. Skulduggery and Valkyrie went to get straight out of the car.

"Wait." I said. "Who lives here?"

"Samuel Rayder." replied Skulduggery. "He knows some people who know some people who might know about Amelia."

"He's also an idiot." said Valkyrie. "Not in the intelligence sense, just in the I really don't like him sense."

"What do you think happened to Amelia?" I asked them.

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery and he turned around in his seat to face me. "Everything in those books is true, you know that now. You're dealing with it surprisingly well too. I won't lie to you now and I won't hold the truth from you either, you don't deserve that. But right now you're going to have to wait a little longer because Samuel is sitting at the window wondering why we're here."

I looked over at the window and saw a man who looked to be in his early thirties trying to stay out of sight, and doing a terrible job of it.

"Ok then." I said. "But after we're done you'll tell me everything you know."

"I cross my non existent heart."

"Let's go then."

"Can I stay in the car?" asked Valkyrie.

"Not unless you want to be deprived of your likely chance to terrify Mr Rayder." replied Skulduggery

"Ok, I'm coming."

As we all got out of the Bentley I noticed Samuel disappear from the window. As we got closer to the front door I heard a thud and a very high pitched squeal.

"I think he just fell." I said.

"I would bet my life he did and I would bet my magic he's crying." said Valkyrie.

We reached the heavy front door and Skulduggery knocked. "No one's home!" called Samuel.

"I think someone is home." Skulduggery called back.

"No, no this is a recorded message, no ones home, you should come back another time. Or not. That's fine too."

"Samuel even I have seen Despicable Me and that's not going to work. Open the door."

"N-no."

"Well I might just have to send Valkyrie in through that big wide open window there. Should I do that Samuel?" He didn't wait for Samuel's reply and gestured to Valkyrie and then the direction of the window. Grinning, she made her way there and entered the house silently.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Samuel answered. "I don't even have a win-"

"Hey Samuel." I heard Valkyrie say.

Samuel Rayder proceeded to let out one of the highest pitched shrieks I had ever heard. And then another thud and silence.

Valkyrie opened the front door from the inside and stepped aside to let us see a now unconscious Samuel lying on the floor. "He fainted." she said bluntly.

"Is there a reason he didn't want to let you two in?" I asked them.

"I have no idea." said Skulduggery. "We are perfectly nice, loveable people that would never have threatened this poor man the last time we were here."

"Ah."

"Can I wake him up now?" asked Valkyrie.

"If you must." replied Skulduggery. "After we tie him to a chair."

When Samuel was slumped, unconscious and restrained, in one of his dining chairs Valkyrie moved her hand towards the space above his head, drawing in the moisture and forming a cloud. She drew it in tighter and then released, showering Samuel with water. He woke with a start, letting out yet another squeal.

"How did you-what-"

"Stop spluttering and let us talk Samuel." said Skulduggery.

"No, I will not stop-"

"Hey Samuel," interrupted Valkyrie. "Shut. Up."

After hearing the tone in her voice and seeing the look on her face Samuel decided to finally shut his mouth. Then he looked at me and his eyes widened.

"Why is there two of her?" he asked, looking at me, then Valkyrie, then back at me. "Why are there two Valkyries? One is bad enough. How hard did you hit me?"

"We haven't hit you at all," replied Skulduggery. "But I'm sure the taller Valkyrie is coming closer to doing it with every word you say. Now, like my partner said, shut up. We have questions for you."

"I don't know anything I swear. You wouldn't be able to get it out of me anyway. If there was anything. Which there's not. I know nothing. At all. I am the Jon Snow of this interrogation."

"Oh but you do know things Samuel. And we know you know things. We know you know people who know what we want to know. But first we need to find out what you know. So what do you know?"

Samuel sat there with a blank look on his face, concentrating hard. Eventually he gave up and said "Can you say all that again very, very slowly?"

"Ok, no, it's my turn." said Valkyrie, walking to crouch down in front of Samuel. "You know, you just made me angry and you haven't even started your cocky stage yet. That's a bad thing. See her?" She gestured at me without looking away from him. "That "other Valkyrie"? She hits just as hard as I do if not harder. And you are heading the right way to finding out exactly how hard that is. You will answer our questions or I swear to God I may break your nose. Got it?"

By this stage Samuel was trembling. He nodded and Valkyrie stood up and came back to stand next to me, arms folded.

"I take it you'll cooperate now?" Skulduggery asked.

Samuel nodded again slightly regaining composure.

"Good, first question: Who were the last people you spoke to before we turned up?"

"In the past week I have mostly spoken to my parents. I take it you mean out of the ordinary?"

"Here it comes." Valkyrie muttered angrily.

"Yes," said Skulduggery. "Who have you imposed your flawless people skills on besides your parents?"

"Well, there was a Necromancer last week. He wanted some stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Necromancer stuff, I don't know, dead things maybe. I didn't have what he needed so he left."

"What stuff Samuel?"

"He wanted information then! On you and your lovely partner here. Didn't look like he was too fond of you either. Especially you." He looked at Valkyrie and she glared at him. I gathered he was in his cocky stage.

"And what did he want to know about us? questioned Skulduggery.

"Where you were, what you were doing, whether or not you'd picked anything or anyone up. At the time you hadn't but I see you got what you needed." he said looking at me. "Has she taken a name or will she not live long enough for that?"

Valkyrie's hand flew up and she pushed at the air so hard I thought Samuel might go through the wall. Skulduggery cocked his head slightly in our direction and then walked forward to pick Samuel up off the ground. Beside me Valkyrie still had her hand out and she was shaking with rage.

"You deserved that." Skulduggery told a dazed Samuel. "Shall we continue? I'm going to anyway. Tell us about the Necromancer."

"He asked those questions and then he left." he replied. "If I were you I'd be more worried about the people that came after him."

"Who?"

"Three guys. Two were fairly normal looking, unless you count the freakish height of one of them, but they were definitely mages. The shorter one, possibly an Elemental but he carried those trident looking things too, the little ones."

"Sai?"

"Yeah them. The big one, I have no idea about. They freaked me out, you could just feel power coming off them."

"And the third one?"

Samuel looked Valkyrie dead in the eyes before answering and I prepared for another attack. "Vampire."

This time Valkyrie simply turned and walked out. I looked at Skulduggery and he nodded at me. Knowing he could handle the questioning on his own, I followed Valkyrie out the door.

I found her sitting against the back wheel of the Bentley, head down with her fingers tangled in her hair. I sat down next to her, not knowing what to say. My ability to comfort people had always been terrible.

"You didn't stay in there?" she asked me, still looking at her knees.

"I wasn't exactly helping." I replied.

"He recognised you. Eventually he figured out who you were. That could be a good thing, or it could be bad, I don't know."

"Well I know why you don't like him anyway."

She let out a small laugh and finally looked up. To my surprise she had tears in her eyes.

"What happened in there?" I asked her quietly. "I mean I know you don't like Samuel or vampires but that wasn't like you. And neither is this."

She sat for a moment in silence, like she was trying to figure out how to respond. When she did her voice shook.

"I can't…control her. Darquesse. Before she was just…a voice in the back of my head. Now….now she IS the voice in my head, she IS how I think. I'm angry all the time. I can feel her trying to get out all the time. I knew she was getting stronger, every time she came out but now…I don't know if I'll come back if she gets out."

I looked at her without saying anything. I looked at the girl I had basically grown up with, one of the strongest characters I'd read, sitting in front of me looking smaller than she ever had.

"Does Skulduggery know?" I asked her.

"I haven't told him but I think he does. He's hard to hide things from."

"Can you feel her now?"

She nodded.

"And in the house?"

"I thought I was going to lose it. I thought that was it. As soon as he mentioned you taking a name she was there, right up front, and I wanted to kill him. He mentioned vampires and I had to leave in case it happened again."

I didn't know what to do, or say. I was still new to all of this and right now I was sitting in front of someone who could potentially explode and turn into a world-killer any second.

"When is she "weakest"? When can you be more relaxed?"

"I don't know." she said, running a hand through her hair. "Some people bring her out more than others, I go to sleep and I'm pretty sure they're her dreams not mine. Panicking is bad because if she thinks I'll die she'll try and get out. I've come full circle. I used to need to be calm to use magic and now I need to be calm so I don't turn and kill everybody."

"What about fighting?"

"Depends who I'm hitting."

"What about when we fought before?"

She sat, thinking back, trying to remember. "I don't think I could feel her as much. She was there but she always is. It's like I didn't realise she was gone until we were done and then she came back as I realised."

"That's something then right? I think you need to tell Skulduggery though. He'll work something out. And he is probably going to be the one to bring you back if she gets out."

"Yeah. Yeah you're right. I just-"

She looked behind me and I turned to see Skulduggery walking out of Samuel's house. "Are you leaning on my car?" he called to us.

"Yep." said Valkyrie.

"You can walk then. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Did you get anything out of Samuel?"

"Well the large lump on his head proved to loosen his tongue as well. We're going to look for the Necromancer that was here. Samuel said it was only a few days ago and his "sources" tell him that he's still in the area."

"What about the other three?" I asked him.

"We should wait until we know more about them before we go find them. I'm hoping the Necromancer is working with them in some way. If not we've just opened up another case."

"Ugh, more work?." said Valkyrie.

"Possibly more hitting as well and we do like to hit Necromancers don't we?"

"We do. I think Sarah will thoroughly enjoy it."

"Speaking of Sarah hitting people, I think we should find out if she can do any magic. And you two should probably keep training together too."

"You think I might be able to do magic?" I asked him, trying to hide my excitement.

"Possibly. If Necromancers and any other mages know about you then it may be that you belong in this world. And even if you can't do magic your fighting is more than enough to keep you alive."

"What about her name?" Valkyrie asked. "Samuel did have a point. Should she take one?"

"Probably, especially when she does need to be this involved. Any ideas?" he asked me.

I felt my face go hot and I looked at the ground, letting my hair hide the blush. "Uh, I dunno, I'd have to think about it. That's kinda a big deal right?"

"It is, you should choose what fits, when you're sure. Don't choose something right this second if you don't want to."

"Ok."

"Well, I need to call Ghastly and Ravel for some…things. We'll leave soon."

"Got it." said Valkyrie, standing up and brushing herself off. "I'm going for a walk. You coming?"

"Sure." I replied, getting up to follow her. "He paused."

"He did. He needs some…things."

"Will he tell us about the…things?"

She smiled and looked towards Skulduggery. "We'll get it out of him. Let's go."

We walked away from the Bentley and Samuel's house, towards a cluster of trees. "Why did you blush when Skulduggery asked you about your taken name?" asked Valkyrie.

"You saw that then?" I replied.

"It was a bit hard to miss." she said, smiling. "Have you already taken a name?"

"No I haven't." I told her. "It's just-no it's stupid, never mind."

"You've read every book in the series we are in, read every stupid little thing I've done, how bad can this be? Let me remind you of the train with Hansard."

I laughed. "That was horrible to read I hope you know that. So much secondhand embarrassment."

"Exactly, now why did you blush?"

I sighed and thought about how to word it. Eventually I gave up and as I blurted out my reason I kept my eyes on my feet.

"I haven't really thought about taking a name because when I read the books I picture me as you. When I'm reading, a lot of the time I am Valkyrie Cain. It's stupid, like I said."

She didn't speak for a while and I internally kicked myself.

"It is stupid." she said eventually. "But not for the reasons you think. It's only stupid because why in God's name would you want to be me?"

I finally looked at her and saw that she was smiling. "We are similar in a lot of ways as it is. Some people have said it's scary how alike we are but I don't know. Height is obviously not one of the similarities."

She laughed. "Well, now I can be a triplet, you, me and the reflection, or we can count yours as well, but I'm not sure how alike yours will be yet. You just have to be the short one."

I laughed as well. "Think of all the sarcasm."

"Oh my God yes. Anyway, we should go back, I still need to talk to Skulduggery."

She looked slightly worried. "It'll be fine." I told her. "You're not telling him you're Darquesse or anything, just that you think she's getting stronger."

"Yeah…anyway, let's go."

We headed back to Skulduggery who was just hanging up when we turned up. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Well I'm not staying with Samuel." said Valkyrie.

"Good point. Alright then, let's go punch a Necromancer."


	4. Chapter 4

We drove in silence for the next few hours. Valkyrie sat in the passenger seat staring out the window at the empty landscape and then at her hands. Every now and then she would open her mouth as if to say something but then close it and turn to stare out the window again. Skulduggery either didn't notice or just didn't show that he had.

I watched her from the back seat, knowing what she wanted to tell him and seeing how hard it was for her. I knew how conflicted she was and how much Darquesse terrified her but I couldn't imagine how she was feeling. Yesterday my biggest worry had been all the assignments I was putting off.

I sat in silence for a bit longer hoping Valkyrie would be able say what she wanted but when it was obvious she wouldn't I spoke up.

"So what's going on with Amelia? What do you know?"

Skulduggery inclined his head slightly and I knew he'd glanced at me in the rearview mirror. Valkyrie turned away from the window to look at Skulduggery, the faint look of distress still in her eyes.

"I've been thinking more about it actually and I may have worked something out but I'll start from the beginning.

"About a week ago we heard from Ghastly of a mortal girl gone missing. Usually it wouldn't overly concern us but there were traces of magic in and around the house and neighbours had previously reported strange vehicles and strange people who would constantly pull into the street and watch the house and then leave some time later. As cliche as it sounded we had no current world ending crisis to attend to so we decided to investigate.

"We went to the house, and nothing had been disturbed, no one was home. We asked around about the family that lives there and found out that they weren't at home, they'd gone on holiday for a week or so. Everyone we asked told us it was a family of three; mum, dad and their teenage boy. No one ever mentioned the daughter or older sister. When we asked about her directly no one even knew who we were talking about. It was like Amelia never existed.

"We went back to the house and looked closer at everything. All the photos of the family around the house, Amelia wasn't in any of them. There were photos of her parents, her brother, all of them together but not a single one of her. We searched all the rooms and none of them could have been a teenage girl's bedroom. "Whoever took Amelia made sure that they erased her from existence. The only proof we have that she did really exist was the fact that we still had the report of her disappearance and a close friend who'd moved away. Someone that she could have called a sister.

"Having no other leads we went looking for you pretty quickly. My concern was, and still is, that if someone wanted Amelia to disappear like that they could very well mean to dispose of her when she became useless to them."

I couldn't stop the tears from welling up but I refused to cry. I blinked them back and let out the shuddering breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding.

"I still don't know what they want from her," Skulduggery continued. "But we will find her, I promise. And if they've hurt her in any way I swear we will not hold you back from them."

I didn't speak, just sat staring out the window, imagining what I would do to whoever had my friend. I thought of her family, knowing that they probably had no idea what had happened to her. Either they'd had their memories wiped of her existence as well or they would find out when they got back from their holiday. That made me even angrier. "What did you work out?" I asked him.

"It's nothing major really. I have a feeling that her family was sent away under the guise of a holiday so that they could take Amelia. That way no one would seem suspicious about anything."

I got the feeling he wasn't telling me everything but before I could say anything Valkyrie blurted "I have to tell you something."

Skulduggery glanced at her and then back at the road. "Yes?"

"It's about Darquesse. She…I think she's getting stronger."

"In what way?"

"She just always seems to be…there. Like I don't have any time where I can't feel her trying to get out. That thing at Samuel's that was her, she threw him across the room. I can't control her anymore. I am constantly fighting her. I can't fight properly, talking to certain people is bad, I'm just angry all the time. I'm scared to go home. I'm scared that when she gets out I won't come back. I don't know what to do."

Her voice had started shaking and her hands had closed into fists to stop them from doing the same. Once she'd started talking it was like she hadn't been able to stop. Skulduggery kept driving, not taking his eyes off the road and not saying a word. After a while Valkyrie looked up at him, waiting for an answer. Eventually he said "Neither do I."

That wasn't what Valkyrie needed to hear. For years Skulduggery had been her go to person and even the things she had kept from him he had either worked out for himself or she'd told him anyway. He always knew what to do, always had a plan even if it was a terrible one. He was the one who had brought Valkyrie back when Darquesse had rampaged, he was willing to spend the rest of his life watching over her while she slept hers away in the Cube.

Valkyrie didn't say anything. She sat there staring at her partner, who she had pinned some hope on waiting for him to tell her something a little more helpful.

"We knew this was going to happen." he told her. "We knew she was getting stronger, you said you could hear her more and I have noticed that you have a shorter fuse. You lose it at small things. This is what you and Sarah were talking about before wasn't it?" She nodded.

"She said that she can't feel Daruesse as much when we're fighting." I said. "When we fought before she said it was like she disappeared for a bit but didn't realise until she came back."

"That's something." Skulduggery replied. "But we can't exactly have you two fighting 24/7. You will need to train every day though. In fact now might be good."

He pulled the Bentley into another rest area and got out. We followed him down a small hill, away from the road and relatively out of sight.

"Now, both of you are angry. I want you to let that fuel you for this fight. Valkyrie, no magic and both of you try to avoid punching each others faces in for injuries sake. Hopefully this will calm both of you down slightly and give Valkyrie a little peace."

Valkyrie and I faced each other again, this time with less hesitation. I thought of Amelia and my hatred for people I still didn't even know flared up. I flew straight at Valkyrie, my fist hitting her straight in the solar plexus. If it hadn't been for her clothes she should have doubled over trying to suck in air. The impact of the punch still shocked her slightly and she reacted immediately, snapping her front foot up at my head and only just missing.

We fought for longer than we had last time, with more ferocity and with much less care for pulling punches. Our only break was after Valkyrie swept my feet out from under me and quickly put me in the same armbar as she had in the other dimension from Kingdom of the Wicked. Rather than let her break my arm I quickly tapped out and she released the hold. She let me stand up and we continued. We traded punches, kicks, take downs and holds and I quickly lost track of time.

When Valkyrie came at me with a quick jab and followed with her right hand I grabbed it and moved to the side. I pulled her to help her on her way and without thinking I splayed my other hand and pushed against the air. I don't know what I expected but it was not for Valkyrie to fly forward and come rolling to a stop along the ground. Skulduggery, who had been sitting and doing something on his phone, snapped his head up.

Valkyrie groaned slightly but sat up unhurt. "Oh my God," I said. "I am so sorry." I ran to her to help her up, Skulduggery walking behind me.

"Well that answers that question." said Valkyrie.

"That it does." replied Skulduggery.

"Oh my God," I said again. "Are you ok? I'm sorry, I don't-"

"Dude I'm fine," said Valkyrie, laughing. "I thought you'd be a bit happier about being able to do magic."

I froze, realising what she'd said and what I'd just done. I'd pushed at the air. I'd done magic.

"Oh my God." I said for a third time.

"There we go." said Valkyrie brushing herself off. "Congratulations."

"Oh my God." I couldn't help the grin that plastered itself across my face.

"Well done." said Skulduggery. "You obviously know the theory behind air and fire because of the books. I want you to try air again. Move this rock." He kicked a small rock closer towards me. I concentrated hard, trying to remember everything I'd read. I imagined the spaces interlocking to move to the rock and pushed but nothing happened. I tried again and got the same result. And again. And again.

"I don't get it." I said.

"You just need to practice," replied Skulduggery. "Just because you pushed Valkyrie doesn't mean it will come naturally to you straight away. You'll need to be completely focussed to do it again."

"So it was a fluke?"

"Not a fluke, you'll definitely be able to do it again." said Valkyrie. "Like Skulduggery said though, it will only come with practice. You might need to be completely calm or maybe you need to be angry I don't know but it won't happen every time you want it to for a while. Try fire."

I clicked my fingers, trying to focus my energy into a spark. Nothing happened. I tried again and thought I felt warmth but I dismissed it as wishful thinking. "It's not working. And if I can do it I kinda need it to work don't I? What with Amelia and everything."

"It will work when you need it." said Skulduggery. "Looking at the situation you should be able to use it in a fight. Valkyrie first used magic sitting on a rock in front of a beach. She was completely calm, with no distractions. You're under pressure now and excited. Keep practicing though, work at the fire in the car. If you burn my car though I swear to God…"

He didn't need to finish. "Sparks and small flames only, got it. If it works at all." I turned to Valkyrie. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know. Good I s'pose. She's definitely not as bad as before. And I don't think she's coming back as quickly."

"That's good. It is good right?"

"I think so." said Skulduggery. "I don't know what it is but you must be good for Valkyrie."

"Please don't say like a vegetable."

Valkyrie laughed. "Maybe it's like a yin and yang thing. Maybe we're more alike than you said."

"Is that even possible?" I asked. "Could I actually be balancing her out or something?"

"I really don't know." replied Skulduggery. "You do seem to be the only thing that's helping her though. Keeping you around might not be a bad idea."

Skulduggery's phone went off and he pulled it out to read the text. "You cannot be serious." he said.

"What?" said Valkyrie.

"We have our Necromancer. That was one of the things I asked the Sanctuary for before we left, whether they could find anything about any Necromancers in this area."

"So who is it?"

"Oblivious."

A smile slowly spread across Valkyrie's face. "Oblivious? We were worried about Oblivious?"

"You still don't know his real name?" I asked the two of them.

"I think someone told us not long ago but I refuse to call him anything else so I ignored them." replied Valkyrie. "Come to think of it it might have been him."

"Well he should be even easier to track than Dragonclaw." said Skulduggery happily. "I love when our job gets easier."

"Which generally means something bad will happen not long after." said Valkyrie.

"Generally speaking yes."

"Oh good." I said. "Something to look forward to."


	5. Chapter 5

I sat in the back seat of the Bentley behind Skulduggery with my left hand cupped around my right as if I was holding a lighter. I closed my eyes and inhaled and then exhaled slowly, concentrating on focussing all my energy into a spark. I clicked the fingers of my right hand and opened one eye to see a small flame dancing at the end of my thumb.

I had to stop myself from swearing in surprise and instead contented myself with "Holy mother of dragons!"

We'd been driving for a few hours and Valkyrie had started to drift off but at my sudden shout she spun around in her seat. She saw the flame and I saw her visibly relax and grin at me.

"Awesome, I told you it wasn't a fluke. I swear though I think your constant clicking was what was putting me to sleep."

"You're just getting old," I replied. I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped. "I may cry with happiness this is amazing."

"It really is isn't it?" said Valkyrie. She went to turn back around in her seat but I stopped her.

"Hang on. How do I put it out?"

"Teach her Valkyrie or I will throw you both out of this car until she can do it." said Skulduggery urgently.

"It's kind of hard to explain," she said. "Hang on I'm coming over."

She took off her seatbelt and climbed through the car. She sat on the passenger side, leaning against the door slightly so she could face me. She summoned a small flame of her own, mimicking mine, letting it burn above her thumb.

"Ok so you just poured energy into your arm to get the flame right?" I nodded. "So now just try pulling it back to get rid of it. Do the opposite."

I tried to do as she said, imagining the heat and light returning back into my hand and returning to the rest of my body. Nothing happened. "I don't think it's working. "

"Try using your hand as well," she said. "Try to snuff it out almost." She demonstrated with her flame, making a quick movement with her hand, resulting in her making a fist. "Careful though, this is more likely to move it off your hand."

"Oh good." I replied but I did as she said. I copied her hand movement as closely as possible still trying to pull the magic back, but if anything the flame got bigger. "Ok no I think we need a plan C." I said, looking at the fire in alarm. "Skulduggery how fast can this thing go?"

He made a noise that probably would have been accompanied by a smirk had he had any lips. He gunned the engine and the Bentley growled. When we were going dangerously fast I opened the window far enough for my hand to fit through and stuck it out quickly. The rush of wind thankfully did what I wanted and put out the flame. I pulled my hand back in and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You know what we said about practicing in the car?" I said. "Let's not do that."

Skulduggery slowed the Bentley back to a normal speed and I turned back to Valkyrie and noticed her staring at my hair. "What?" I asked her.

"I never noticed before," she replied. "But your hair matches that coat."

She was right. My hair was black from the roots to just past my shoulders and the ends were dyed a deep red. "I'd have it brighter but my school would go mental." I told her. "Technically it's not even s'posed to be dyed."

"Your education and learning abilities must be ruined." she said with a grin.

"Yes and the brighter it is the less I can remember." I said with a small laugh.

"That is something I will never understand. Anyway. Skulduggery you haven't told us where we're going."

"Well there was no reason for Oblivious to stay around Samuel's because, well, there's nothing there." he replied. "So we're heading to the nearest form of civilisation that includes more than five people. We should be able to find him or at the very least, someone that's seen him."

We drove for another half hour before we got to the civilisation Skulduggery wanted. I'd been in the area before but not enough to recognise much, which meant no one would recognise me either.

We got out of the Bentley, parked across from a small, dirty looking park with a set of swings and one of those rope obstacles. Skulduggery lead the way to the main street, his facade up. This time his hair was slightly longer and jet black and he had bright green eyes.

"I think we should split up." he said, surveying the few people on the street. "We might attract even a small amount of unwanted attention and we can cover more ground in less time. But you two should stay together."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Valkyrie to find her doing the same. "I thought we were splitting up." she said.

"We are." replied Skulduggery. "You two will be separate from me. Sarah is still new to this and you two can pull a sibling card or something if need be. Ask around for a nice man dressed all in black and we'll meet back here when we're done. An hour at most."

"Got it." said Valkyrie. She turned and walked in the opposite direction to Skulduggery and I followed. I let her lead the way figuring she actually knew who she was looking for and who to ask.

"I think Skulduggery's not telling me something." I said as we walked.

"Why's that?" she asked.

"I dunno, just in the car when he was telling me about Amelia and everything, at the end he said something but it didn't sound like he'd finished, if you know what I mean. Like he'd left something out. And now sending me with you even though he wanted to split up. He's made it clear he thinks I'm capable."

"It is incredibly likely he's not telling you something. If it makes you feel any better he hasn't told me either if there is. And you are capable, I think he just wants to keep you safe. We need you to find Amelia. And we want to be able to send you home when we have. Preferably not injured."

"Yeah you're probably-wait." I stopped and she turned around to look at where I was staring. We'd stopped in front of a car.

"Why are we looking at a car?" asked Valkyrie.

"Because I know this car." I told her.

"You know this car?" she sounded slightly worried. "Sarah whose car is this? Is there anyone here that would know you?"

"There shouldn't be, we only ever pass through here. Do you know where Amelia's family went when they went on holiday?"

"I don't think so. We sort of focussed on Amelia but Skulduggery might have checked, that's something he'd make note of. Why?"

"Because this is Will's car. This is her dad's car."

"You're sure?"

I pulled my gaze away from the car and looked at her. "I'm not a hundred per cent, maybe it's a different number plate but still…"

"Well do you want to call Skulduggery or look around for her dad now?"

I thought for a second. "Let him keep looking for Oblivious. If we need him we can call him. If Amelia's dad has had his memory wiped of her existence then he probably wouldn't know me anymore either, our families were friends because of us."

"True." replied Valkyrie.

"Worst case scenario, he does still know me and we can make something up for why I'm here and what I'm doing."

"Let's go then."

I took one more look at the car an then scanned the street quickly but I couldn't see anyone I recognised. I decided to check in the shop closest to the car. Valkyrie walked a pace behind me and we stepped into a small bookshop. It was warm, and I could smell coffee mingling with the scent of books.

I led Valkyrie through the shelves hoping we didn't look too suspicious. She must have seen my unease because she drifted to a different section and started scanning the titles, making sure I stayed in sight.

I looked away from her and at the books closest to me and then nearly had a heart attack when one of the staff appeared at my side.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He looked to be around twenty with close cut brown hair. "Uh, can I help you with anything?"

"No it's ok, I'm sorry I jumped." I smiled at him, hoping to seem more relaxed than I was. "I'm just looking for now though, thank you."

"Well let me know if you need anything." He turned and walked off, back to whatever he'd been doing.

Valkyrie walked up behind me. "You need to relax." she said quietly, still scanning books.

"I know, I don't even know why I'm so worked up." I replied.

"Because we could be about to find your best friend's dad and we don't know if he even knows he has a daughter anymore let alone that she's missing. Have you seen him?"

"Not yet. It might help if we move from this section though."

"Good point."

Valkyrie moved off first, managing to look like she was searching for something in particular. As we rounded a corner we found a reading area, the two chairs filled by a middle aged woman and her daughter. We moved further into the shop and came across two more cushioned chairs, these ones in an alcove and unoccupied. We searched through the biography section and the comic section finding three more alcoves along the way, none of them containing the person we were looking for.

I was going to tell Valkyrie that maybe he was just next door when the door to the bookshop swung open. A cold draft swept through and then it swung shut again. I stuck my head around a bookshelf and quickly ducked back behind it.

"I don't know if this is a problem but we might have a problem." I said to Valkyrie.

She looked around the same corner I did and looked at the man that had just entered. Her eyes widened slightly and she dug her phone out of her pocket, speed dialling Skulduggery.

"We have him." she said when he answered.

She listened for a second and then said "The bookshop, not far from where we started."

Skulduggery spoke again and Valkyrie nodded and hung up. "He's on his way. We have to stay out of sight, he might think you're me for a second and he'll definitely recognise me. But we can't let him leave."

"What about Will?"

"He's going to have to wait, at least until Skulduggery gets here. We'll tell him about the car and once we have Oblivious we can keep looking." She looked at me. "It's ok. Even if we don't find him we can find Amelia. He's probably safest not knowing about her."

I nodded and ignored the part of me that wanted to run out and look for Will anyway. If I was going to find him or Amelia then I needed Oblivious and he'd come to us.

The door opened and swung closed again and Skulduggery was tall enough that I could see his hat has we walked through towards us. When he was close enough Valkyrie gave a small cough and Skulduggery changed direction and ended up at our sides.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"He walked to the counter, then straight past us." replied Valkyrie. "He should be in or around the little alcove two shelves over."

"How do we approach him?" I asked them. "What if he tries to take off?"

Skulduggery craned his neck to look over the shelves and into the alcove Valkyrie was talking about. "He just sat down. He might not know about the facade, and even if he does he doesn't know we're here. I'll go talk to him."

Valkyrie and I stayed where we were as he went to go sit with Oblivious. I found myself actually looking at the books we had been standing in front of and found Kingdom of the Wicked along with the rest of the series.

"You've read all of them then?" I asked Valkyrie, turning to the dedications page of Dark Days.

"Yep. I'm honestly terrified for the new one."

"You've seen the cover then?"

"I have. And I don't like it. It's like the visions we see. I hate knowing what the future might be and having to work to change it, not knowing if it will even work."

I was silent for a minute, not having a response. Then something clicked. "Wouldn't these help then?"

She looked at me, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well you've read up to where Derek's written so you know stuff that he thinks that you don't know. Like with China's secret, you would have known about that from Dark Days but you only found out from her properly at the end of Death Bringer."

"I suppose some things need to be dealt with at a certain time. We really haven't given much thought to the books because we're dealing with the crises that are then in the books. Maybe if we ever get a seconds down time we can figure out how it all works. I'll be honest though it scares me to think of them ending."

"It scares me." I told her. "But I just don't want my favourite book series to end. For you that could mean anything."

"I know."

We turned as two voices came towards us and found Skulduggery walking behind Oblivious.

"He claims he's not working with or for the two mystery men Samuel mentioned." Skulduggery said in a low voice. "But I haven't exactly pressed him for answers and he did hear about Amelia. We need somewhere more private."

After prodding Oblivious in the back and getting a scowl in response Skulduggery led us out of the bookshop. As we passed the counter I saw the guy who had tried to help me give us a look that clearly conveyed how strange he thought I was.

We stepped out into the cold and Skulduggery immediately turned left. I followed with my head down and my hands jammed into my pockets and nearly ran into someone walking the other way.

"Sorry, I wasn't-" I started to apologise but the man just kept walking.

I stopped, watching the man as he continued on his way. My heart thudded in my chest as he stopped and unlocked the car I had been convinced was Will's. The man turned and got in and I finally saw his face properly.

"Val!" I heard her jog up behind me as Will drove off, not even giving me a second glance. "It was him, I ran into him and he's super polite he wouldn't have just kept walking like that, and then he just got in the car and left, there's something wrong with him, there has to be."

"Hey, it's ok, look at me. Sarah." she had to physically grab my shoulders to get my attention. "We can find him. It'll be fine."

I nodded trying to breathe properly. I could see Skulduggery stopped and waiting for us behind her. I frowned. "Oblivious."

"What about him?"

"He's gone."

"What?" She spun around and cursed and at her reaction Skulduggery did the same. Two hundred metres ahead Oblivious was sprinting away from us.


End file.
